Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-05-13
CHAPTER VI.
AN EARLY CHRISTIAN CEREMoN'

AN EARLY CHRISTIAN CEREMONY.
extmorning, at the earliest blush Of dawn,
we rose and performed such additions as cir
cumstances would allow, and generally made
ready to start / am bound to say that when
there was sufficient light to enable us to sec
each others faces l, for one, burst out in a
roar of laughter Jobs fat and comfortable
countenance was swollen out to nearly twice
its natural size from mosquito bites, and Leo's
condition was not much better Indeed, OF
the three had come off much the best, prob
ably owing to the toughness of my dark skin,
and to the fact TINT q good deal of it
was covered by hair, for since we
started from England l had allowed my
naturally luxuriant beard to grow at its
own sweet will. But the other two were,
comparatively speaking, clean shaved, which
of course gave the enemy larger extent Of
open country to operate on, though as for
Mahomed, the mosquitoes, recognizing the
taste of true believer, would not touch him
nt any price. How often, / wonder, during
the next week or SO did We wish that we were
favored like All Arab
BY the time that we had done laughing as
heartily as our swollen lips would allow, it
was daylight, and the morning breeze was
coming up from the sea, cutting lanes through
the dense marsh mists, and here and there
rolling them before it in great balls of fleecy
vapor. SO we set our sail, and having first
taken a look at the two dead lions and the
dead alligator, which we wero Of course
unable to skin, being destitute OF means Of
curing the pelts, we started, and sailing
through tho lagoon, followed the course Of
the river on the further side. At midday,
when the breeze dropped, we were fortunate
enough to find convenient piece Of dry land
on which to camp and light fire, and hero
we cooked some wild dnck and some of tho
water bucks flesh-not in a very appetizing
way, it is true, but still, sufficiently. The
rest Of the bucks flesh we cut into strips and
hung in the sun, TO dry into "biltong," as
believe tho South African Dutch call flesh
thus prepared. On this welcome patch of
dry land we stopped till the following dawn,
and, as before, spent the night in warfare
with the mosquitoes, but without other
troubles.
1t was on the fourth day Of four journey,
when we had Travelled, so far as we could
reckon, about 1856 to 40 miles westward from
the coast, that the first event Of any real Inn
portanco occurred. On that morning the
usual wind failed US about IL o'clock, and
after pulling a little way we were forced to
halt more Or less exhausted, at what APP
peared to be tho junction of our stream with
another Of uniform width Of about fifty
feet. Some trees grew near at hand-tho
only trees in all this country were along tho
banks of tho river-and under these wo
rested, and then, the land being fairly dry
Just here, walked a little way along the edge
OF the river to prospect and shoot a few
water fowl for food. Before we had gonc
fifty yards we perceived that all hopes of get
ting further up the stream in the whaleboat
was at an end, for not 200 yards above where
we had stopped was a succession of shadows
and mud banks, with not six inches of water
over them 1t was watery cul-de-sac
Turning back, we walked some way along
the banks Of the other river, and soon came
to the conclusion, from various indications,
that 1t was not river at all, but an ancient
= canal, such as is to be seen above Monbasa,
on the Zanzibar coast, connecting the Tana
river With the Ozy, in such a way as To en-
able the shipping coming down the Tana to
cross to the other river, and reach the sea by
It, and thus avoid the very dangerous bar
that blocks the mouth Of the Tana. The
/, canal before us had evidently been dug out by
man at some remote period Of the worlds
history, and tho results OF his digging still 10
manned in the shape Of the raised banks that
had no doubt once formed towing patha.
Except here and there, where they had been
followed out or had fallen in, tho banks OF
stiff, binding clay were at uniform distance
from each other, and the depth also appeared
to be uniform. Current there WINS little OF
none, and, as consequence, the surface OF
tho water was choked with Vegetable growth,
intersected by little paths of clear water,
made, suppose, by tho constant passage OF